A World Without Chaos
by Tru Mel Meiko Mei Ling
Summary: Be careful what you wish for. A world without Chaos, is Chaos, indeed. Sonic, Knuckles, Cream, Amy, Tails, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Vector, Charmy, Vanilla, Tikal, Chaos, and the Chao.
1. Frozen Future

**A World Without Chaos**

**-Frozen Future-**

-

A sparkling flash of luminescence crackled through the air, with a second wave following close behind.

Spiraling energies of telekinesis and pyrokenisis joined as one and unanimously crashed into its target.

"Got 'im!" a silvery-white hedgehog announced triumphantly. Feeling successful, he turned towards his orchid colored comrade, only to be met with disagreement.

"Don't get so excited just yet, Silver..." she proclaimed.

For 14 days, the two had been fighting a seemingly fruitless battle. Everything had seemed to happen in a flurry of images.

The snow. The Chao disappearing. Chaos.

At one point in time, their futuristic present had been somewhat peaceful and content with the approaching arrival of the holidays. Several days later, it had begun to snow. Soon with each passing week, the snow had accumulated in density and multiplied in its entirety a thousand-fold.

It wasn't long before everyone of their world had begun to turn to ice.

Even the Chao had disappeared again.

Everyday, for 14 days, Silver and Blaze were the only two individuals who had the courage and will to fight for their people and their lives.

Everyday they fought, their supposed enemy appeared unresponsive to their attacks as if it cared nothing of it. But with each day the threat remained, the weather intensely worsened

.

Engulfed in its downtrodden and spiritless cocoon of condensed frozen liquid, the beast allowed their attacks to connect but did not counter.

Instead, its low and distorted wail sounded through the air as its frigid and liquidy form responded with a ripple. Even the ground beneath it seemed to quiver at the creature's dejected pain.

Seeing their adversary was again refusing to fight back, Silver withheld his next attack and floated to the ground next to his partner.

"It's happening again..." he muttered, blinking through the obstructive falling snow and hail.

Blaze agreed with a silent nod. "I know... He won't attack... ...He never will..."

Aggravated as much as he was curious, Silver looked to Blaze and tried to meet her steady gaze.

"What do you mean...?" he inquired, squinting through the thick weather at her, "He's been freezing everything since the Chao disappeared! I think that's saying a lot for something that hasn't been attacking us!"

Shaking her head, she sighed."You're so naive.."

With those words, she turned on her heels and walked off in the opposite direction as if the harsh and freezing weather was ineffective to her.

"Wh-what?" Silver pouted and followed after her. Beginning to feel the iciness lick at his bones, he shivered, but made sure he stood tall at Blaze's side. "That again?? What am I naive about this time?! We've been fighting this creature for weeks, Blaze!"

"...I'm aware of that..."

"S...So then...?"

It was apparent to the both of them of how rapidly the cold was starting to effect him.

Saying nothing, Blaze summoned a fiery orb in her hands. She quickly clasped them together and spread them to create a burning force field around both of them.

That is what she had been using for the past few weeks. She discovered that her powers could at least do that much.

However, the cold was much to powerful to be melted and she knew this.

The least she could do was keep Silver and herself warm until they reviewed their next move.

"Whew!" Silver exclaimed with relief.

A small hint of a smile played across Blaze's lips as she quickly stole a glance at him stretching in the warmth.

That Silver... He was always making her smile.

"That is why you're naive" she smirked.

"Huh what?" Silver questioned but before he could finish, that tiny glimpse of a smile faded and her usual seriousness enveloped her being.

He was a bit disappointed to see it go, but that was the way she was.

Wordlessly, she glanced to him and nodded. "Let's go..."

"Go? Where?" he asked, but already beginning to follow her.

"...Someplace we can think to prepare for the next attack."

"Next attack? Blaze..."

She stopped, but didn't grant his presence with a look this time. Her keen eyes sharply eyed the falling of the boreal precipitation before her.

"Blaze...what can we do to stop this thing? ...Fighting it hasn't done a thing. The weather just keeps getting worse..."

Collecting her thoughts, a swish of her tail was all on her that moved in response to his statement.

"I know..."

"...I...I hate to say it but it doesn't seem like we can ever save our world this way..."

She sighed. "That's true as well...but Silver, what other choice do we have but to fight? ...I don't like it anymore than you do and I believe it's useless, but...we both can't stand to sit around doing nothing for ourselves."

"But the Chao haven't returned in the least! We need those Chao to keep our world stabilized, you know that!"

'He's still so naive..' she thought silently to herself. 'I know he's right but what else is there for us...?'

Blinking, she casually turned to him.

Her eyes narrowed, not just to see through the snow but from being in sudden deep deliberation

'If we are to fail in protecting this world...no matter how worthless our battles may seem...I'd gladly risk my life for this planet and for him...'

An odd shiver sparked through Silver as he could feel her thoughts were something towards him.

With uncertainty teeming in his eyes, he stepped closer to her within the force-field.

"...Blaze..."

His voice carried moreso the tone of a whine than that of endearment.

Knowing he hated being in the dark about things, she chuckled inwardly to herself and nodded to him.

"You're still being naive.."

"Argh! Blaze!"

A faint sound of laughter trickled from her. And the moment it appeared, that flicker vanished as fear tarnished her features.

"Get out of the way!" she shouted as she forced him away from her with her powers.

And not a second later, a watery glob of unknown substances had launched itself in Silver's former direction.

Without any dolor, the two headed towards the source in their own preferred ways while dodging the succession of attacks.

A slew of energy bursts flew from Silver's being like a volley of arrows towards the globs as he soared through the air, while Blaze let her fiery fists and legs deal the damage.

"It's that monster!" Silver exclaimed through the snow and hail. "It's finally attacking us!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Silver, I hadn't noticed!" Blaze sourly retorted back.

Ignoring her possible attempt at sarcastic humor, Silver decided it best to descend upon nearing closer to their target.

But as he did so, he was met with an icy force to his body that matched the equivalent of a solid boulder.

He went down within seconds and hit the rough ground with hardly any sound.

His name was called—shouted by Blaze but the intense frozen onslaught of the weather and the unidentified weapons homing in on them greedily swallowed up the sound.

She quickly ran to his side, avoiding the attacks as best she could and fighting through the ones that hit her.

Nearly covered in grotesque freezing goo, she finally reached Silver's form on the ground.

Broken pieces of hail had spiked the soil in an uneven sheet that braced Silver's landing.

It was too dense to see how badly he was hurt, but Blaze grasped the back of his shoulders firmly and shook him.

The same goo that had hit her had almost completely submerged him.

Coughing, he began to rise from the ground, only to get another dosage of the same type of hit. As did Blaze.

Forcing herself to fight back the desire to succumb, she plunged her fiery hands into the liquidy encasing around Silver and jumped back from what looked back at her.

An eye.

A deformed and ill-shapened eye floated aimlessly through that thick collaboration of refuse.

The thought of it being all over the both of them made her stomach turn, but she held in its contents.

"S-Silver" she managed to croak.

She didn't know if he could hear her or not, but he steadily began to lift himself up from the revolting bio-hazard.

Coughing, he spit out a glob of the waste and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

In doing so, his eyes beheld one of the most repulsive and crude sights he had ever witnessed.

And something that was also an answer to a previous question of his.

A wavering and almost saddened wail emerged from the creature as if it seemed to realize that two others bore witness to its suffering.

And no blizzard, not even the one it created, could mask the despair, pain and misunderstanding that was wrought upon one's features.

A confused and sorrowful cry pierced through the air as Silver's heart contorted into an audible scream.

Chao.

Dismembered, crushed and malformed embodiments of Chao were the disgusting contents of the creature's suffering.

Their bodies had melded together in variously torturing ways, and that of which wasn't somewhat identifiable by a fraction had formed the outer cocoon of liquidy goo.

"WHY?!" Anger flared in the sound of Silver's voice. Enraged and hurt, he pounded a fist into the jagged ground below.

Splotches of violent and remorseful crimson sprouted from his hand through his gloves and speckled the icy spikes.

"WHY THE CHAO?! WHY?!" he screamed, his chest heaving.

"Silver...!" Blaze's voice seemed to return to her while she sadly watched her friend.

He had every right to feel the way he did and while she could understand his pain, the senselessness of the situation puzzled her. Why the Chao? What connection did this creature have with them to do such horrible things to them?

Without realizing, her hands tightened into fists and she launched herself into the air, using her agile legs to propel her towards the creature.

The one in question ceased its attacks and did nothing, as if it expected her arrival.

It almost welcomed it.

Freezing winds tugged at her fur, dappling it with arctic frost. But she didn't let that stop her.

The closer to the monstrosity she got, the colder her surroundings..

Her force field had begun to fade in fiery pops and crackles.

Soon, she stood at the foot of the liquid- engorged entity.

Instances of attacking it with everything she had rapidly played through her mind and within those passing deliberating seconds, her thoughts became reality.

Her whole being was lit aflame with burning determination as she wrought scalding havoc against the being.

Before long, her lightening fast blows were met and matched along with Silver's gleaming telekinetic powers.

Worn but impassioned, their blows collided with the creature for hour-feinting minutes.

As their blind, emotion-driven battle continued, exhaustion soon claimed them and they collapsed directly at the mercy of the icy being.

"We can't keep doing this!" Blaze forced out with a grunt, struggling to catch her breath.

Silver said nothing at first, but continued to hang his head in shame and defeat. And also in lament.

The weather was nearly unbearable now. Their luxury of sight had become a hindrance to them and was voluntarily disabled.

Faint ruby glossed eyes scanned over their resting forms through its cage of watery flesh.

A deep trembling sound rippled throughout its body as if it also felt pain for its own actions.

It was almost as if it was testing them...

"Silver!"

The fiery urgency in her voice quickly caused him to respond by reflex more than will.

"I know!...I know..."

Her vision still impaired, Blaze moved her tired body towards Silver's voice. Irritably, she struggled to force her eyes open. They stung as she managed to ignore the harsh snow.

She could barely make out Silver in her glassy and blurred vision.

"Silver..." she spoke softly, resting a hand on his back.

His body reacted with a jolt at her touch and without warning, he spun around and clasped her hands in his.

Confused yellow opals widened from the action and her mouth followed suit. She had known Silver well and she was already prepared for the bold and reckless words that were about to charge out of his mouth.

Still unable to brace himself against the relentless weather, Silver's eyes remained tautly shut. His mouth opened and his shoulders quickly rose and fell as he took a breath.

"Let's...let's get out of here and go back in time.."

"Silver..." Blaze sighed with a hint of sternness to her voice.

And Silver realized all too well when a scolding was on the way.

"We have to!" he claimed, unknowingly clutching her hands tighter.

"No! We shouldn't use time travel as an excuse for our own short-comings, Silver! We promised to eliminate all threats no matter what the cost--"

"Exactly!"

"--But we can't keep using time travel as a crutch! What happens here, we deal with here!" she stated boldly, her words coated with finality.

And normally, Silver would consent, but after seeing the mutated remains of the Chao, he couldn't just leave things the way they were.

Going back into the distant past may have been an excuse but what other choice was there?

Knowing his answer wouldn't be what she wanted to hear, he hung his head.

Blaze watched him with a silent firmness in her eyes that only softened for the one second he began to raise his head again.

Small glistening liquidy orbs peeked out from beneath his ivory-speckled lashes and kissed his cheeks.

She didn't know if it was out of remorse or understanding towards her friend, but Blaze felt something deep within her break when she saw him like this.

Reassuringly, she gave his hands a strong and sympathetic squeeze.

His lithe body shook as the cold continued to rob him of warmth and security as well as the sense of his words.

Taking a shivering breath that pricked at his lungs, he continued.

"...Blaze... I know how you feel...but... Although not much of any good...may come out of meddling with the past... we've still got to try..."

Her eyes narrowed apathetically. "Silver...you can't always be willing to take so many risks..."

"Damn it..." he muttered, his shivering worsening. "I don't know what else to do...We have the opportunity to go back and attempt to fix things... If we don't take that chance then..."

"That's enough..." she sighed. Silently, she slipped her frigid fingers to either sides of his face and concentrated to create a replacement force field.

She could keep them slightly protected for now.

As she and her plucky companion rose to their feet, another trembling wail emitted from the creature.

They both turned to glare back at it with their own brand of pain, anger and confusion playing about their faces.

Their adversary remained perched in the same frozen spot it had been in since it showed up.

The 3 of them seemed to share a mutual silence and for only a split second did another possible realization hit Silver and Blaze.

Perhaps this creature had reasons of its own for doing what it did.

For odd and unknown reasons, it had seemed as if the creature was protecting something.

"Blaze...?" Silver began to inquiry, but Blaze shook her head and held his hand in preparation to leave.

"Let's go" she uttered.

Through the endless plummeting of white, the creature watched them go and let out a soft cry.

**To be continued...**


	2. Into the Unknown

**A World Without Chaos**

**-Into the Unknown-**

"Merry early Christmas!!" Amy's jubilant voice chirped as she raised a glass.

"'Merry early Christmas'??" Knuckles reiterated with disgust and inquiry on his face and in his voice. "What kind of toast is that?"

Sonic and Tails chuckled to themselves while they watched Amy's viridian eyes flash as she turned to the clueless echidna.

"It makes perfect sense!" she argued, stepping over to him with a hand on her hip.

It was the holiday season. Sonic and the others decided to have a get-together at one of their residences. After location ideas were tossed around of who was to go and stay where for the season, Tails had suggested Rouge's place.

When word got out to Rouge, her only warning of the matter was a grinning blue hedgehog on her doorstep asking if she was having any company over.

Cream and Cheese stayed at home, however. Vanilla disapproved of having her daughter be near such a place.

Met with a last minute decision, Rouge reluctantly agreed. Shadow didn't seem to care very much and Omega was away for repairs.

Besides, Rouge had bought a set of lovely flute glasses she had always wanted to use for a certain occasion dealing with a certain black hedgehog.

But since that event hadn't occurred yet, why not put them to use for a Christmas party?

"Allright, allright! You don't have to YELL!" Knuckles snapped playfully back at Amy. "Just sit down and drink your cider!"

Amy laughed while Sonic and Tails did the same.

Shadow, who sat on a couch opposite from them only scoffed.

Annoyed, Knuckles glanced at all of them and shrugged. "What's so funny...?"

His words were met with more giggles and laughs. "Should we tell him?" Tails whispered to Sonic.

Sonic chuckled and shook his head. "What do you think, Shadow?" he asked, turning to face the dark enigma.

Carmine annoyance glared right back at him. "...What..."

"Awww" Sonic sighed and crossed his arms. "Leave it to you to really kill a mood, Shadow!"

"Hmph" Shadow frowned and adverted his attention elsewhere while crossing his arms.

No more than a second later, a flash of blue appeared next to him and mocked his behavior.

Amy and Tails snickered to themselves at Sonic being his brazen self while Knuckles sat on the floor with oblivious confusion on his face.

"Hey, knock it off already!"

Everyone in the room paused in their play and gave their full attention to the voluptuous huntress before them.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen with a tray of assorted cookies, dates and nuts.

Tails and Amy eyed the tray eagerly while Knuckles frowned.

"Don't tell me that's all you have!" he groused with a small pout.

Rolling her eyes, Rouge sighed and went back in the kitchen. Within seconds, she re-emerged with a bowl of fruit and tossed it at the unappeased echidna.

"There! Don't ask me to serve you any dinner, then!" she warned.

"Now you're talkin!" Knuckles cheered as he caught the bowl and immediately began to scarf down its contents.

Rouge chuckled to herself and brought the initial tray out for the others to consume.

Seeing Rouge heading over to himself and Shadow, Sonic nudged Shadow in the arm with his elbow and whispered: "Looks like you won't be getting any sleep tonight...if you're lucky!"

"What--?!" Shadow growled but Sonic was over at the snack tray stuffing his face like crazy.

When their eyes met, Sonic only winked at him but before Shadow could protest, the rounded curve of Rouge's supple hips invaded his line of vision.

Staring at them silently as his mind calmed, he blinked and recomposed himself.

Settling back into his usual nonchalantly disturbed demeanor, he crossed his arms and locked eyes with her.

"What is it...?"

A warm smile spread across her light lips as she shook her head and held out her hand. "Got a minute? You look like you could use a chat to get some things off your mind."

Slight shock washed over his features. She hit the nail right on the head.

Inwardly, he chuckled to himself.

That was his ally.

Instead of taking her hand, he casually stood up on his own and walked past her to the front door. Group festivities weren't his thing anyway.

Keen aquamarine jewels eyed his figure closely as he opened the door.

He always had a funny walk, she thought. To her, it gave off mixed and opposing signals like 'keep away from me' and 'don't leave me alone.'

"He'll never change." she smiled to herself. Turning to check on her other guests out of hospitality, she headed to the door herself and grabbed a jacket.

The moment she stepped outside, her solicitous turquoise eyes fell gingerly on his form. He stood a few feet away from the door with his back turned to her and his head tilted upwards.

Following his attention, Rouge looked up as well. Silent and thick flakes of snow had begun to flutter from the heavens and kiss the streets in subdued peacefulness.

Intent garnet opals softened at the quiet, but also painful sight. This would have been the second snow he had ever seen and been out in. While the frigid powder was silent and even sometimes beautiful, it also reminded him of death and suffering. He hated how solemn and hazardous it was. When there was an abundance of it, it almost seemed to demand binding authority.

But in addition to all of that, the snow always got him to think of his past more than he probably should have.

Rouge was keen to what the mysterious precipitation wrought on him. She had hoped before that he would put his abrasive and remorseful thoughts aside for good one day. Inwardly sighing, she zipped up her jacket and walked over to him.

Her sharp boots cut shallow clicks that echoed with every step she took.

"Shadow?" her voice called softly and almost sadly.

Having an idea of what she was going to say, Shadow shook his head, but did not turn to her.

"...Forget about it..." he uttered, idly scanning the sky. "...I've...already put it behind me."

Rouge blinked in surprise. She had an idea of what he was referring to but wanted to be sure. "Put what behind you, your past?"

He slightly nodded. "Yeah."

"..." Rouge hesitated. Finally this moment had arrived but she had nothing to say. The words refused to form themselves.

Shadow had actually expected a relieved response from her, but continued on. Outstretching his arms, he uncurled his fingers and allowed the snow to decorate his dirtied gloves with moist patches of purity.

"I've come to accept that the memories I have of the ARK weren't real..."

Rouge wanted to protest but a frosty gasp was all that escaped from her.

And Shadow understood. "...Yes, that also includes Maria."

"Now, hold on, Shadow..." she spoke up, "Letting your past go is one thing, but to say it was all fake is denial..."

"...Yes, it would be denial ...if it wasn't true."

"What?"

Shadow took a moment to gather his words. When he did so, he turned to his attractive companion and gave her his full attention.

"I'm not saying Maria or the Professor never existed...but my memories of her...just don't make any sense to me...

"How can a being that doesn't grow have a childhood? How can a static being even have memories of something it never witnessed?

"I was created for the sole purpose to give the Professor's granddaughter a chance to live on despite her illness... When Maria was killed, that agenda changed..I was to be used as a pawn, nothing daring or heroic.

"...The Professor made me what I am...and allowed Black Doom to insert his blood into me...in exchange for a Chaos Emerald..." he trailed off. To make a long story short, he sighed and searched for a conclusion.

"Let's face it. My fond memories of Maria were just another bribe by the Professor to ensure that I carried out her final wish without fail. But even after I've completed that, I'm still haunted by thoughts and false memories of her and her care. ...And I want them to stop... So I'm ending them right here...right now."

Rouge was utterly flabbergasted by what she had heard. But he had many good and understandable points. "Shadow..." she began to smile.

Catching her acceptance and replying with a small smile of his own, he nodded to her.

"Besides..." he added stepping closer to her. "...I've decided to not allow those false memories to overlap the new ones I've made...and the ones I'm going to make..."

Through the flurries of snow, Shadow could see her eyes widen then return to their usual sly appearance. But he could have sworn he saw a jubilant glistening within her eyes before she turned away from him.

For a second, he thought he had said something wrong but all was made clear when she peeked at him over her shoulder. An accepting and sanguine expression fluttered about her features as she winked at him. "Come on. Let's head back inside... While there's still an inside to go to with those 4 in there."

With a short chuckle, Shadow began to follow her back into her place. But right before he stepped in, he took one last look at the falling ivory before him.

"Adios" he whispered and continued inside the club.

--

Spiraling brilliant hues of color glimmered in bursts of luminescence like tiny fireworks in the night.

And from within the display, two figures emerged. Battered and wrought with exhaustion, they tumbled out of the light with one arm draped over the other's shoulder.

Not long after their appearance, their bodies reacted to the time travel and icy temperatures.

But the weather was nothing compared to what it was from where they previously were.

Catching her breath, Blaze opened her citron eyes and nearly dropped Silver off her shoulder.

"Silver...!" she panted lightly, trying to salvage her cool-headed demeanor. "Silver, do you know where we are?"

Coming to his senses, the columbine hedgehog squinted as he adjusted to air in the past and relived his weight from her.

"...Yes... I do!" excitement pricked his heart as he eagerly jogged in a small section of the area.

The darkened trees that surrounded them wavered lightly in the slight breeze that traveled between them. Beyond them was a wide clearing that led to the pedestal of the Master Emerald.

"The Master Emerald!" Silver exclaimed and floated upto it curiously. "But...Why did we come here? I don't see anything wrong" he pondered, appearing like a small child checking every nook and cranny for his lost toy.

Once she caught upto him, Blaze watched him in silence. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Let's go..."

"Huh?"

Instead of answering right away, her determined eyes trailed upto the dark gray sky above them.

The snow was thick, but light in quantity. Whatever caused the creature to manifest itself in their time couldn't have been around there.

Returning her gaze to a bewildered Silver, she cocked her head towards the ocean that encircled below.

"We should look for Chao since we're here and keep them safe."

A slight twinge pinched at Silver's heart at the word as his thoughts traveled back to the grotesque abomination they had seen just hours prior.

He looked away for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah... let's go find those Chao!" It seemed his determination had returned to him.

Blaze said nothing while she watched him glide past her. And not a second later, she took off sprinting after him.

**To be continued...**


	3. Foolish Wishes

**A World Without Chaos**

**-Foolish Wishes-**

Back at Club Rouge, the festivities and food had settled between the companions.

After cleaning up, Rouge and Amy came up with an idea.

"A game?" Rouge raised a brow while she wiped her hands off with a dish towel. "That wasn't what I mentioned..."

"Well, not really a 'game' per se, but something a little different." Amy described.

"Like what?"

"Making a wish."

Rouge laughed at the childish suggestion. "Are you kidding?"

Amy's brows furrowed a bit at this and she firmly placed her hands on her haunches. "Why, does that idea sound stupid to you?"

"Well, quite frankly, yes."

Annoyed, Amy rolled her eyes and threw her dish towel on the counter. "Don't you and Shadow have Chaos Emeralds?"

Rouge was failing to see the point, but she had her assumptions. "If this is just some childish prank to wish Sonic would go out with you..."

"Look" Amy curtly interrupted. "This isn't about only me, Sonic or anyone else individually. It's about all of us. I just thought it would be kind of nice to do something different for the holidays this year."

Rouge said nothing at first, but she was listening. "So? What does that have to do with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"The emeralds are able to turn thoughts into power!... Jeez you've been pining for these things for a while now and you didn't even know that?! You're a lousy treasure hunter!"

"And you're an under-aged psycho who's stuck on the verge of puberty."

"Better to start than to be an old hag like you."

"Do you WANT me to kick you out of here?"

Amy groaned. "Why can't we just make a few wishes huh?"

"Why can't you understand the word no?!"

"God, you're unbelievable, Rouge!" Amy shouted, throwing up her hands in annoyance.

"Yeah, that's what Sonic told me last night." the bat retorted sarcastically.

But the sarcasm flew right over Amy's head.

"WHAT?!" she cried, making the walls tremble. "YOU TRAMP!"

"What the hell?!" Shadow exclaimed from the Living Room, but was met with a casual response from Sonic.

"It's just Amy being herself again..."

Rouge had to cover her ears from the slurry of nonsense that spewed from that girl's mouth.

Perhaps that wasn't the best joke to use.

"IT WAS A JOKE!" Rouge yelled, still covering her ears.

Amy's mouth hung open in a gape as a liquidy hope glistened in her eyes.

"Oh! O-of course it was... Haha..." she laughed nervously, then her face darkened. "It had better been..." she growled. Then within seconds a bright smile rejuvenated her features.

"So, about those wishes?"

30 minutes later, the group sat in a loose circle in the Living Room each with a Chaos Emerald in their hands.

Tails had called Cream at home and put her on speakerphone so she could join in.

Between them all, they each held one emerald.

"Now.." Amy began, exchanging glances with those closest to her, " Let's hope this upcoming Christmas will be a sweet one as we keep in mind, not only our friends but the people of this city that let us live here."

"That's right!" Cream's caring high pitch added over the phone.

Knuckles scoffed. "You may as well wish for world peace then. That would be a miracle..."

"...A wasted one..." Shadow commented in a snide tone. Bothered by his remark, Rouge lightly hit him on the arm to make him reconsider. A "hmph" was all he gave.

"World peace?" Amy questioned, then shook her head. "No, but that does give me an idea."

Holding up her emerald, she closed her eyes and made her wish. "I wish...for everyone in the world to be safe from harm."

Various murmured comments towards her wish were made by the others as they considered their own.

"That's basically world peace..." Knuckles quipped, but shrugged it off as he made his wish. "I wish there wasn't so much violence in the world."

As odd as that sounded coming from him, everyone couldn't help but give him strange looks.

"What?" he asked nonchalantly. "I-I may be a tough warrior but even I get tired of fighting the same exact fights over and over. It gets boring."

"You mean you render yourself useless so that hedgehog and I will have to finish what you started."

All eyes were on Shadow now.

"Shadow!" Rouge scolded to him in a whisper, but he ignored it.

Since the attention was on him, he figured he may as well make a stupid wish too.

Clutching the emerald he had, he stared deeply into the threads of its design.

"I wish for stability and less uncertainty and disorder..."

"I wish for a longer life and to be around those who care for you." Rouge confessed, stealing a lingering glance at Shadow.

Of course, the others, except Cream and Knuckles caught this. Knuckles just wasn't paying attention.

"Allright, it's my turn!" Sonic spoke up eagerly and brought the emerald to his chest. " I wish for a lot less chaos in this world and more peace."

"I wish for love and happiness!" Cream's voice optimistically suggested.

"I wish for a world without troubles and suffering." Tails confirmed.

After their wistful desires were spoken, the emeralds began to glow faintly.

"Wow, look Sonic!" Amy called happily, looking over at her crush. "They're glowing! Maybe our wishes came true?"

"Maybe, Amy. But...is this supposed to happen??"

"I'm not sure" Tails replied.

"Oh! Our emerald is glowing too!" Cream exclaimed as Cheese cooed.

Rouge was silent as she thought for a moment. "A world without chaos, huh?" she thought aloud.

Shadow's ears instantly picked up the sound of her voice."What?" he inquired, turning towards her.

"A world without chaos" she repeated. "That's basically what we all wished for. No pain, no suffering; peace... no disorders... "

Shadow frowned at the slight immaturity in her words and humphed. "There is no such thing. And even if such a fluke were to happen, there would still be chaos. Peace can't exist without disorder; pain can't exist without serenity. Without balance, one can't exist properly without the other."

"...Balance, huh..." Her voice trailed off, as did her attention on him. She didn't believe in there even being a balance in life. An appreciation for the positives because of their coexistence with the negatives, she could see.

Appreciation.

But for balance, no. If there was a such thing as balance in the world, then life, she believed, wouldn't be so unfair.

But, Rouge took his words into consideration anyway. Although, in the back of her mind she figured that a completely peaceful world would be allright. ..At least for the first few weeks. She knew it was a fairy tale, but sometimes you just never knew.

Her sudden silence and depth of thought caused Shadow to ponder, himself. But instead of sharing his views, he stood up and walked past her.

No one bothered to notice him heading towards the front door.

Alone without his presence next to her, Rouge pushed her hidden insecurities aside and forced herself to appear hopeful.

'..I suppose you're right...'

--

Outside, he was able to let his thoughts roam freely. Anxious carmine eyes peered up into the blank gray void above him.

The snow that continued to fall had thickened in the slightest since previously.

His eyes, alert and fierce, gave no yield to the icy pins that pricked at them.

He had come outside to clear his mind, but the moment he stepped out in the cold, he received the exact opposite.

A brisk shiver tingled up his spine. It took only the passing seconds for him to realize that he was shivering.

He had never before shown vulnerability because of an uncomfortable climate. His body had always ignored it.

"What's going on..." he muttered. His mind had begun to analyze the situation, but he soon decided against it.

Rouge had always scolded him about his unnecessary paranoia... Perhaps this was just another one of those times.

Believing it so, although he knew something much more complex was happening, he turned.

But as he did, he saw the faint flickering movement of another life out the corner of his eye.

Was it a Chao?

About-facing to claim a better perception, his speculation vanished, as did the subject.

It was as if the Chao had just disappeared into thin air.

Blaming the apparition as only a figment of his imagination, Shadow denied the sighting and headed back into the club.

**To be continued...**


	4. Lamenting Chaos

**A World Without Chaos**

**-Lamenting Chaos-**

"Silver, over here!"

Within the pounding of a melting instant, Silver quickly flew from his location and to the side of his comrade.

But his immediate words weren't needed.

Now, before Blaze and himself, was a small group of huddling Chao on the ground.

And Silver's face lit up with triumph. "You found more of them!" he beamed.

Also sharing a smile, Blaze nodded. "Yeah. So, we should take them back to the Master Emerald."

Silver didn't respond. He had heard her, but he was too occupied with cooing and speaking unintelligent gibberish to the Chao.

Rather amused, but expectant of his behavior towards the peculiar life forms, Blaze smiled warmly to herself. She was glad he had such a close connection towards them, but regardless of their reunion, they had a job to do. And time was not on their side.

"Silver..." she spoke quietly while placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

A few moments passed before he nodded to her in understanding and stood up. "Right. Let's get these guys to the Master Emerald... Um, why the Master Emerald again?"

All the solace seemed to drain from her face and left seriousness and disbelief in its place. "...Because it just makes sense. Since we don't have time to look for individual Chaos Emeralds, then using the Master Emerald should work just as well. It carries superiority other the Chaos Emeralds."

"Mm" Silver nodded, although only parts of her statements translated fluently in his mind. "Right, of course! If we gather them there, maybe we'll be able to keep them safe and sealed off from that monster..."

Blaze nodded.

Instead of scooping them up in his arms, Silver lifted them telekenetically. His milky coat glowed with tapering tints of green as he carried them.

The ones he couldn't retrieve with his powers, Blaze knelt down to grab. But her hands went straight through them.

In shock, she winced and quickly looked at Silver.

The Chao he carried were empathizing the same effect.

They were running out of time.

--

A lonely and boreal gale whisked through the trees and rolled over the grass that bore daily witness to the Master Emerald.

Many Chao had migrated to the majestic stone. But why? Some did so out of fear, others did so out of panic and uncertainty.

A crisis had broken itself upon them and they had no one else to look to help them besides 'him'.

More than half of them faded before even reaching the gem's pedestal.

Sensing an abnormality within the very beings of his 'children', the formless entity of Chaos awakened.

His presence was seen only by those from him, of him and who bound themselves to the Master Emerald itself.

Once the weary and terrified eyes of the Chao fell on his form, all was silent.

The wind had become slightly more frigid while the snowfall continued uninterrupted between them.

When the Chao realized there were safe as long as they were close to Chaos, their expressions changed to relief...and they collapsed.

One by one, row by row, group by group.

And at this heart-wrenching sight, Chaos was able to only do one thing.

Mourn.

Distraught, it emitted a low and remorseful wail to the patches of white and gray above.

As it continued to grieve, the bodies of the Chao assimilated with him, like water vapor would to sunlight.

As his cries intensified, so did the absorption and indirect slaughter of the Chao.

And from the pain of Chaos came the reaction of another entity.

Bound to both the Master Emerald and the 'heart' of Chaos, her essence roused.

Bathed in a pale pink light, her intangible form wavered in fear from what was happening.

She watched helplessly as the bodies of the Chao joined with the body of Chaos and malformed into something more.

As more of the Chao were absorbed, the body of Chaos began to contort and flicker.

The aquatic body he had soon began to emerge vulnerable to the weather.

His lower extremities began to freeze over, but his upper torso started to stretch.

And a sight that would normally have been unwitnessed by those with a tangible body and a soul could be seen for miles.

The torso of Chaos had begun to shift and evaporate partially into the sky.

And suddenly, the freezing snowfall transited into an absolute blizzard.

Even tiny stones of hail began to pelt the planet.

But all Tikal could do was watch and plead for him to stop.

But his mutation was beyond even his control now.

'What could have done this...? Who is responsible for this?! Chaos wouldn't do such a thing on his own!'

But once she caught sight of the faded and dun color of the Master Emerald, pieces of the puzzle had begun to be comprehended by her understanding.

The Master Emerald had become defected. It had lost its control and its power.

But something else had to have happened in order for the Chao and Chaos to react in the ways that they did.

And it had.

When the desire for a world without chaos was spoken into existence, the Chaos Emeralds targeted themselves and lost their powers.

The 7 Chaos Emeralds are the servers.

Chaos is power enriched by the heart.

The 7 servers set to unify that power.

Because the Master Emerald had power over the Chaos Emeralds, when the emeralds lost their power, so did it. Without that power, the Chao were unable to continue their lifespan. No chaos energy meant no Chaos Drivers or anything else that they needed. So they were drawn to their last source of hope, Chaos.

When Chaos sensed their turmoil, he knew there was nothing he could do. His cries were the result of ultimate realization the Chao no longer had a purpose or reason to live.

So he took that pain within himself and became as burdened and grotesque in appearance as was the crime of the relinquished murders of the Chao.

No Chao meant there was nothing left to hold the planet together and nothing to stabilize Chaos.

And a world without Chaos, was chaos indeed.

**To be continued...**


	5. Into Motion

A World Without Chaos

-In Motion-

As precious moments continued to falter through time, the perilous advances that Chaos had unwillingly set to pass, had remained unknown of by those that created it.

Hail, sleet and various forms of snow pelted the streets and roof of the club. Yet, as their festivities calmed, none of them paid the sudden change in weather any mind. None of them realized an unbalanced disruption.

Except for one.

While the others were chatting in the kitchen to prepare to take their leave, Knuckles was the only one to remain in the Living Room.

After many rounds of feasting and playing party games, he had quickly lost interest and decided to take a nap.

Shadow was another who did not participate but Knuckles have a care for what that malcontent hedgehog was upto.

But his rest from boredom was abruptly lifted as a resonating pain in his feet clamored upto his head.

Alert violet eyes shot open and quickly closed from the pain.

Growling, the echidna grabbed his head and forced an eye open.

And the very moment he could gather himself, a flood of another's thoughts and pains rushed through him.

He recognized the faint consciousness as Tikal, but he could not understand her pleading cries.

Entities of the formless also made themselves known to him—their previous containers broken.

"T...the Chaos Emeralds...? And the Master Emerald...?!"

"What is going on in--" Rouge's urgent tone wavered into the room with her body following after.

But at the sight of her acquaintance behaving in such a hurtful manner forced her to drop all insensitivities and rush to his side.

"Knuckles, what's the matter?!" she exclaimed, kneeling beside him.

"My head!" he groused, clutching his dreads. "Something...something happened with the emeralds!"

"The what?!" Rouge repeated in awe.

She couldn't even begin to understand what he was talking about. What did his pain have to do with them?

"Knuckles! Rouge!"

The two instantly looked up intently at the one who called them.

Sonic stood grimly in the doorway to the Living Room. Confusion and distraught marked his usual light-hearted features.

"It's Cream..." he continued in short vague breaths.

"Cheese just disappeared..."

Shock could not even begin to describe their visual responses.

Within scrambling seconds, the three of them rejoined the rest of their comrades in the kitchen.

Tails lay on his knees with his cell phone resting half-heartedly across his hand on the floor.

His arms were limp and his head was lowered.

Amy was right next to him attempting to console him, as well as the frantic shrill voice on the other end of the phone.

"CHEESE IS GONE!!" Cream's small voice painfully wailed. "CHEESE!! CHEESE!!"

A deep voice arose behind hers.

It was recognized to be Vector's.

"Cream, calm down..." he attempted to calm her down but his efforts were foolish and futile.

The little rabbit was too far broken to acquire the will to perform such an action.

Other voices could be heard.

"Everything is starting to freeze!" the urgent tone of Espio claimed. "If this continues, the whole planet may turn to ice!"

" Don't say things like that, Espio! We've gotta evacuate the folk around here!" Vector spoke up.

"But it's freezing outside!" Charmy whined.

"I want to help you, Mister Vector!" Cream valiantly stated, but a worried scold from her mother stopped her.

But the Chaotix had soon made their decision and had already set out to put it into motion.

On the other end of the line, all was silent.

And none of them knew why, but a sudden blanket of guilt began to smoother their judgment.

But there was no longer any room for empathetic exchange.

Action needed to be put forth.

"I'm going to check on Cream and her mother." Sonic stated. No one believed such seriousness could be obtained by him. "Once they're okay, I'll help the Chaotix evacuate the city."

Amy almost immediately stood to her feet, helping the downtrodden fox up with her.

"I'm coming with you." she proclaimed, almost demanded.

Tails sadly agreed. "Then, I'll stay with Cream..."

"I'm going to the Master Emerald." Knuckles spoke up and decided without hesitation.

"And I'll stay behind to fight the monster that's done this..."

All eyes fleeted to Shadow's darkened form in the doorway.

Relief showered throughout Rouge as she sought him. Without thought, she jogged to his side. "So will I."

Knuckles said nothing as he ran past them and Amy and Tails followed suit.

Sonic began to, but looked back towards the two of them.

Soft viridian searched through clouded aquamarine and arid crimson.

But Sonic knew their minds were already made up and their time was being wasted. No point in arguing.

"Suit yourselves. You two do what you think is best..." Sonic lowly left his words with them before he ran out of the room.

Alone in the presence of the own thoughts and breathing, Shadow and Rouge exchanged looks, then agreements.

"I think you're wasting your time coming with me, but you do what you want. And do not get in my way..." Shadow scoffed and separated himself from her presence.

Silent turquoise glistened while watching him go. A frigid shiver accompanied their emotion but was feverishly ignored as she capered after him.

To Be Continued...


End file.
